Authority Executive Director Tony Hanna said the $30,000 sale price was agreed upon following three appraisals of the former junkyard, which the authority bought in the 1960s as part of its revitalization of Bethlehem's Colonial Industrial Quarter.

The development of the four-lane Route 378 turned the wooded property into a narrow and steep island of land that -- from a development standpoint -- is only accessible from an adjacent home at 143 W. Broad Street, which the developers acquired, Hanna said.

Musikfest founder and former ArtsQuest leader Jeffrey Parks is partnering on the $15 million proposed project with the father-sons development team of Dennis, Garrett and Brandon Benner.

In addition to the council approval, the project still must make it through several layers of approvals before construction is a possibility. The site must be rezoned and the city planning commission and city Historical and Architectural Review Board must sign off on the plans.

"This is going to get a lot of public vetting," Hanna said.

Developers hope to begin construction in late 2018 with completion by September 2019, Parks said.

The five-story building fronting on West Broad Street is being designed by Sitio Architecture. Founder Antonio Fiol-Silva designed both the Levitt Pavillion and the Hoover-Mason Trestle, Parks said.

Fiol-Silva outlined various site designs that were abandoned due to the site's topography, before detailing the proposed plans for Skyline West.

The design calls for a courtyard fronting on West Broad Street where residents would enter the secured, ground-floor of the building complete with amenities, like a gym and outdoor deck overlooking the Colonial Industrial Quarter. Cars would be funneled back to a 65-space parking deck below the building and West Broad.

Due to the site's unique topography and steep slopes, the project will not obstruct the views of West Bethlehem residents on the other side of Route 378, Fiol-Silva said. The proposed building is about 40 feet smaller than the Conestoga Street condominiums and does not even extend back to Market Street, he said.

Skyline West will be perched amidst the trees, offering sweeping views of the Monocacy Valley and Bethlehem's two downtowns filtered through the foliage, Fiol-Silva said.

Parks pointed out this is not the hillside where Colonial and American soldiers were buried during the Revolutionary War. The soldiers were buried in the areas of First and Second avenues, where a memorial is erected in their honor.

When asked about the traffic the project might generate, Parks said they expect most residents to be seeking a walkable lifestyle and that cars would be arriving and leaving at different times of day. At worst, traffic might have to be restricted to a right-hand turn at peak times, he said.

The existing Neo-Colonial style house the developers own on West Broad Street will have to be moved from the site or torn down to make the project feasible, Parks said. It dates to the 1880s and has been used as a rental for the last 30 years.

Little of its original historic details remain on the interior, but the developers are looking for a buyer interested in moving the house to another location, lest it face demolition, he said.

One-bedroom Skyline West units would be about 800 square feet, while two-bedroom apartments would be about 1,200, Parks said. Rents have not been decided upon, but developers expect them to be on the upper level of Lehigh Valley rates, he said.

Each apartment would include a washer and dryer and modern kitchen with gas stoves. The building is described as pet-friendly, with a pet washing area, in addition to a fitness center, community room with outdoor deck, bicycle rack and a package receiving system.

The project has the backing of Mayor Bob Donchez, the Downtown Bethlehem Association and the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce.